New report calls for end to discrimination in the Canada Child Benefit – la version française suit dessous – As kids across Canada go back to school this month, a new report details how some low-income families are excluded from a government program that would help them afford school supplies, as well as rent and …
Updates
Helping people with mental health disabilities access ODSP: An expert report on the complexity of mental health treatment in Ontario
– la version française suit dessous – People with mental health disabilities face particular barriers in accessing Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) benefits. A new report by a group of medical experts from University of Toronto’s Collaborative Mental Health Care Working Group will help applicants establish their eligibility for ODSP benefits. To qualify as a …
Ontario jobs numbers contradict fears about raising the minimum wage
This Labour Day weekend marks eight months since Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, came into effect. Bill 148 increased the minimum wage from $11.60 to $14.00 an hour, gave all workers access to ten job-protected personal emergency leave days (the first two of which are paid), legislated equal pay for equal work …
Federal government releases national Poverty Reduction Strategy
On Tuesday, August 21, the federal government released Canada’s first-ever national Poverty Reduction Strategy. Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (CPRS), entitled Opportunity for All, sets targets and timelines for reducing poverty, puts in place a new National Advisory Council on Poverty, and establishes an official national poverty line. The CPRS also commits to public reporting on …
Work With Us! Joignez-vous à notre équipe!
ISAC has an opening for a permanent full-time staff lawyer. We’re seeking a person with exceptional skills to undertake strategic litigation, as well as contribute to policy advocacy and community development, aimed at expanding the legal rights, remedies and benefits available to low income workers and people relying on income security programs. As a specialty …
Ontario’s Social Assistance System: 100 days to fix it or to break it?
This post, by Jennefer Laidley at ISAC, originally appeared on the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO) blog on Thursday, August 16, 2018 Eleven years ago, I started work at the Income Security Advocacy Centre, a legal clinic advocating for improvements to the income benefit programs available to low-income Ontarians, with social assistance as a …
There is nothing compassionate about Minister MacLeod’s announcement: Ontario’s cuts to social assistance will hurt the most vulnerable in Ontario
Minister MacLeod’s announcement to cut social assistance rates by 1.5 per cent will take approximately $150 million out of the hands of people who are among the most vulnerable in Ontario. “People on social assistance continue to live well below the poverty line and would have used the additional much-needed money to pay for basic …
Future of OW/ODSP Changes Uncertain: Take Action!
– la version française suit dessous – A few weeks ago, we circulated information about changes that are slated to take effect in Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program starting this fall, and others that are already in place. Since then, over 7,100 of you have downloaded this information, showing us that these changes are …
Important Changes Coming to OW and ODSP / Changements importants aux programmes d’OT et du POSPH
NOTE: As of June 31, 2018, all of these changes are now “on pause” and will not come into force this fall as scheduled. Please see these links for more information: http://incomesecurity.org/policy-advocacy/ontarios-cuts-to-social-assistance-will-hurt-the-most-vulnerable/ http://incomesecurity.org/public-education/ontarios-social-assistance-system-100-days-to-fix-it-or-to-break-it/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ – la version française suit dessous – A number of changes to Ontario Works and ODSP rules have recently been made or are …
Legal clinics challenge CPP-D deductions from insurance payments: Reilly v. Ford hearing starts June 18
The Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) is partnering with the HIV/AIDS Legal Clinic of Ontario (HALCO) and the ARCH Disability Law Centre to intervene in an important human rights case. Our coalition will argue that it is discriminatory for insurance companies and employers to to reduce the amount of long-term disability benefits they pay to disabled …
